The Graduate Division is proud to announce the first recipient of the Mahsa Amini Graduate Fellowship, an award created to support qualified scholars in a UC Santa Barbara doctoral program who have graduated from an Iranian institution with a bachelor’s degree in a non-STEM discipline. The Fellowship’s inaugural awardee Marzieh Gahvardband graduated with her undergraduate degree in law from the University of Zanjan in Iran. She went on to earn her MA in Women’s Studies from the University of Alabama, and will be pursuing her doctorate in the UCSB Religious Studies Department.
“We at the Graduate Division are very excited to welcome Marzieh to campus,” said Leila J. Rupp, Interim Anne and Michael Towbes Graduate Dean. “She is the embodiment of the hopes of the Iranian community members who took the initiative to raise the funds that made this fellowship possible. I know she will more than meet their expectations.”
The protests in Iran sparked a desire in Gahvardband to document the struggles of marginalized women in the Middle East. “Exactly one month after my immigration to the United States, the ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ movement began,” she said. “I believe the Mahsa Amini fellowship is a great opportunity for me to be a voice for women under oppression in Iran. I hope to make a positive impact in the community through this fellowship.”
UC Santa Barbara was the first university in North America to establish a graduate fellowship to honor Mahsa Amini, whose death in the custody of Iran’s morality police. in September 2022 set off women-led protests across the country and brought international attention to the dangers women face in Iran. Established last year, the fundraising for the award was organized among the Iranian American community by UCSB graduate school alumni Salva Salmani-Rezaie PhD ’21, Mohamad Nasr-Azadani PhD ’12, and retired UCSB staff member Venus Nasri. The Fellowship provides $8,000 and includes matching funds from the Graduate Division. Applicants should demonstrate economic need and a history of having been deprived of personal freedoms in their upbringing or home country.
Under the guidance of her advisor, Professor Janet Afary, Gahvardband will pursue doctoral research delving into the complex dynamics behind the emergence of the recent social movement in Iran. “The primary reason I chose UCSB was its faculty expertise,” she said. “Dr. Janet Afary's excellent research in conceptualizing the intertwining of Islam and women’s agency in Iran, along with her critical analysis of gender and sexual politics, motivated me to pursue my studies at UCSB under her guidance and supervision. Additionally, I was drawn to the university's Otherwider resources and community, which I hadn't had access to before.”
Gahvardband hopes to be a part of an academic community that provides a platform for people facing gender discrimination. “I aim to contribute positively to their lives by creating a safe environment where they can share their experiences with others in the region,” she said.
For more information about how to support the Fellowship, please contact John Lofthus.